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A call to action

Yesterday was our annual family Christmas Party. It was a nice gathering, but this year it took on a little bit more meaning for me.

As we gathered for this annual event I could not help but think about the generations of our family that have gathered in years past, and looking to the future.. what will we do. My two son’s are the last two “Name sakes”. They are only teen agers… so we are not rushing things, but they carry the name..and the Christmas parties in the future.

As I caught up with cousins and relatives that I have not seen since last Christmas I began to listen to the stories about days gone by, about Uncle’s that have long since past and the Grandparents that my children will never meet. As we reminisced about Christmas parties past and the funny things that have happened over our relatively short life times I thought we need to write this stuff down, or better yet… get it on video. And we had an AH HA moment.So next time we gather at a family event, I will have the Digital Video camera set up in what my cousin called the “Confessional Room” and we will invite everyone to tell a story to the camera.This way we will capture our family as they are and for generations to come they will be able to see Uncles and Aunts, and Grandparents sharing life as they knew it.

Ok..so this is not an original thought, and I am sure that many of you already are doing this…but it’s my blog…so humor me…But this is a Call to action. I was overwhelmed with the idea that my kids have never and will never met my Grandparents. I want their kids to at least get to know my parents, but if they can never meet them in person, at least we can say…this is your Great Granddad.. he was a heck of guy. Or… you remember that story I told you about….. well this is him.Families are precious, no matter what economic status, what part of the country, or what ethnic background… families are all we have in the end and we need to preserve their traditions, their heritage, and their stories.I think we all need to look at our families and enjoy what they bring, what they have given, and where they are going. But take the time this year…don’t wait. Write down the stories or video tape those that may not be around in the future.Over Thanksgiving my parents converted some old 8mm tape to DVD. We watched some old footage of my sister, brother, and me, when we were real young. I was glad that the tape existed as we lost my brother 20 years ago. My kids have never seen him other than in pictures. But here he was moving on the screen. Precious.

So.. here is your call to action.. Document your families, not for you, but for the next generation.This is also a good idea to pass on to your Scouts. I am certain that there is a Merit Badge out there that this could help with.

4 comments

Yes.. the Genealogy Merit badge…A great Merit Badge to get the Scouts to learn about their heritage and families.Just make sure that Mom and or Dad, Grandma or Grandpa is a registered Merit Badge Counselor for it to count.Have a Great Scouting Day!

I had a great, great uncle that was a fabulous story teller. He eventually put his stories to print as a small book called “Little House on the Iowa Prairie.” It had little stories of how America changed from a farming nation to one of manufactured goods. One story was how he had to walk 7 miles to find out his mother had given birth by this time. Another chapter covered the antics they had with their first car. Document the stories some way.

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Jerry, you’re an excellent communicator, you have a very experienced and level headed view of Scouting and you definitely are a great example of a servant leader. Seriously, I think you should be working for BSA National - Trent